And here we are- Chapter eight. A little fluff for you before things go downhill? :)
-mariahills-capsicle
Downtown was ridiculously busy that morning. Frankie followed Sans closely, clutching his hand tightly. The first stop was the little grocery store on the corner.
"What do you want for breakfast, kiddo?"
"Mmm…" Frankie stared at the peaches in front of him, contemplating the question. He finally sighed, "I don't know. I like lots of things."
"Okay…." Sans led the way to the cereal aisle. "Why don't you go ahead and pick a couple of these, and we can get some waffles or something as well." Sans let Frankie pick out most of the food. By the end of their little shopping trip their cart was full of food, including cereal, frozen waffles, hotdogs, and lots of ketchup. Frankie had picked out some sandwich makings, and Sans had finished their shopping spree by picking out two chocolate bars. After they paid for their food they began walking back towards home.
"Who was that girl, Sans? The human?"
"Which one?" Sans asked, looking around in confusion.
"The one who was with you yesterday when you found me." Frankie replied.
"Oh. I guess I never introduced you to her." Sans said with a frown. "Her name's Riley. She offered to help find you."
"Oh. that's nice of her!" Frankie said.
"Yeah." Sans nodded slowly. "She was nice."
They had only walked a few more feet when they passed a toy store. The huge window with flashing lights and little toys drew Frankie's eyes away from his path and his chocolate. He stared in wonder at all the little toys. There were figurines, toy soldiers, blocks, games, stuffed animals, a whole treasury of fun. Frankie was transfixed.
"Heh." Sans chuckled, "You wanna go in, Frankie?"
"Yeah…." Frankie murmured, still in awe. Sans led Frankie into the little shop, still laughing and shaking his head at Frankie's excitement. Frankie, of course, had seen these little shops before while wandering around the town and doing his usual work of begging for some change. He'd always been transfixed by the many colors, and the brightness and cheer of the shops, but he'd never been allowed in. It had been a year since he'd even owned anything to play with, besides his old rubics cube.
"Lets find an new rubics cube for you." Sans said, but Frankie had already stopped in his tracks, staring up at a display of stuffed animals. Right in the middle was a brown and white dog with a deep blue collar. He wanted to reach out, grab it, and never let go. It looked soft and fluffy, and he was already in love with it.
"Made a friend?" Sans popped up behind him. Frankie nodded slowly. "What sort of name do you think he has?" Frankie shrugged.
"Doesn't matter. He's not mine."
"Why not?" Sans asked. He reached up and pulled the large puppy from the shelf handing it to Frankie. "What do you think his name should be?"
"Are you serious?!" Frankie gasped.
"What? I'm always serious." Sans grinned. "It's impawsible to say no. What are you going to name it?" Frankie looked down at the fluffy puppy in his arms and smiled. After a moment he looked up.
"I think I'll call him Sir Barkley Bones."
"Barkley. I like it." Sans laughed. "Not bad. Not bad at all. What do you say we head home?"
"Sure." Frankie nodded, still staring in awe at his new friend.
"Lets pay for this and hit the road. I think there's some left over Spaghetti in the fridge for lunch."
"Yes!" Frankie followed after Sans eagerly.
They arrived home just after noon. Sans went inside to put the groceries away, but Frankie stayed outside, playing with Sir Barkley in the snow. Sans came out after a few minutes to find Frankie sitting on the front step, hugging the stuffed animal like it was his lifeline.
"I love him." Frankie said. Then, something caught the little skeleton's eye. Walking towards them through the snow was a beautiful tortoiseshell cat. She was a splash of colors, orange, black and a bit of white on her chest. Frankie stood, dropped Sir Barkley and rushed over towards the cat. She didn't seem too afraid of his approach, but as he got nearer to her he slowed down, and fell on his knees. She looked so fluffy, she had the longest fur and her amber eyes blinked up at him with curiosity. He held out his hand, and the cat leaned forward slightly to sniff him.
"Hi!" Frankie whispered. "Can I pet you?" What he wanted to do was grab the fluffy animal and hold onto her and never let her cat sniffed Frankie a little bit longer and then rubbed her head across his hand. He grinned, reached out and gently pet her. He found that despite looking healthy on the outside, she was very skinny and her fur was matted and dirty. In a few minutes she was perfectly comfortable with him. So, he reached around her and pulled her into his arms. He stood up and marched over to Sans, a victorious smile on his face.
"Can we keep her?" Frankie asked. Sans was holding Sir Barkley, but was watching Frankie intently with a grin.
"Well, she seems like the purrfect pet." Sans said. "How can I pawsibly refuse?" Frankie set the cat down and gave Sans a tight hug.
"You're the bestest, Sans!" He said.
"Just be careful. Sir Barkley might get jealous." Sans said, patting Frankie on the back. Frankie leaned over and picked up the cat again.
"I think Sir Barkley and… mm…"
"Mm?" Sans said. "Is that the cat's name?"
"No!" Frankie laughed. "I'm thinking…. Well! I think they'll become best friends."
"A cat's a big responsibility, Frankie."
"We can take care of her together." Frankie said as they entered the house. Frankie set the cat down after Sans closed the door. It was much warmer in the house, and the cat seemed extremely pleased with this discovery.
"Well." Sans said. "It looks like we're going to have to go back to town to get some things for your cat."
"My cat. I've never had a pet before." Frankie watched as the cat found her way to the orange sofa and made herself comfortable on one of the armrests. "What should I name her?" Frankie asked. Sans handed him back Sir Barkley.
"Whatever you want." He replied with a smile.
The week had gone on, Frankie had named the cat 'Justice'. An odd name, but Sans wasn't about to object, besides, it was Frankie's cat anyways. Despite that, the cat alternated between beds at night, sometimes sleeping with Frankie, and other times with Sans. The next day, they'd gone to the pet store and bought all of the necessary supplies for a cat. Sans put Frankie on litter box duty, which was fine with him. Justice was his responsibility after all.
But now, it was Tuesday. Spaghetti dinner night. movie night. and Sans wasn't ready for this. but he promised Asgore and he had to go. It's alright, it's only one night. Sans told himself silently. of course, that voice decided to pipe up again. It's one more night with your loved ones that they won't remember. Sans visibly cringes. Will you SHUT UP? the voice seems to laugh.
Where would be the fun in that? Sans grumbles quietly, pushing the voice wasn't going to deduct the happiness of others due to his own discomfort. Frankie was fumbling through the hallway closet, something fell.
"You okay there, Frankie?" Sans asked, chuckling.
"I'm okay! Hey Sans…?"
"yeah?"
"What's 'Monopoly'?"
Sans had forgotten all about the old board game, it was there when he moved into the house, he walks down the hall to where Frankie was. The little skeleton was holding the dusty board game.
"It's a board game. Might not be super fun for you, kiddo. It's kinda boring."
"But I've never played it before…" Frankie looked crestfallen.
Sans shrugs.
"You can bring it along for tonight if you want, I'm sure Papyrus would love to play it with you."
"Are you gonna play too?" As much as Sans wanted to say no, he couldn't.
"Of course."
Frankie gave Sans an excited look, and rushed off with the game in his hands, nearly tripping over Justice in the process. The cat was on her way to rub against Sans' legs, brushing her face against the hard bone. Sans had never had any sort of pet before, and her behavior was weird to him, but he assumed that was a good gesture. She was looking a lot better than she did when they had first taken her in. A lot plumper and happier, that's for sure.
Sans reached down to give the cat a scratch behind the ear, which he also assumed she liked because of the weird purring noise she made. Once Justice had enough, she moved on, probably to go find Frankie. In the meantime, Sans decided to shoot Riley a quick text, reminding her about Spaghetti Night.
Heya There was a brief minute of pause before the reply came.
Hi!
Ur still coming for Spagh night, rite?
Yup! Uh… how many people are gonna be there? Sans counted on his fingers. Asgore. Me. Frankie. Alphys. Undyne. Tori. Frisk. Papyrus.
8 not including you. A pause.
Oh.
Is that alright?
Yeah, it's just… I'm a little nervous around groups of people.
U don't have to come, if you don't want
Oh no, it's fine! I think it would be good for me to get to know new people.
Cools. U can come anytime, I guess.
Alright! See ya there!
C ya
Sans quickly texted her Papyrus's address before getting ready to leave. And by getting ready to leave, all he had to do was slip on his hoodie and wait for Frankie, who was having difficulty holding Monopoly and slipping on his boots at the same time. As soon as that was accomplished, they were out the door.
The walk was nice, Sans let out a content sigh as the two skeletons made their way to Papyrus's house. As soon as Sans knocked on the door, it flies open to reveal his brother, who embraces him immediately.
"heh. Alright Paps. That's enough." Sans chuckles, pulling away from his embrace. Frisk races to the door next, a smile wide on their face as they spot Frankie. They grab his hand and pull him inside, and Sans follows. The smell of spaghetti already hangs in the air. This time, Asgore and Toriel were chatting quietly on the couch, chuckling occasionally.
Glad to see they really hit it off Sans smiles, but that smile soon fades into a frown as the voice returns. Oh yes, because their reconciliation really 'hits off' later, when everyone resets. Sans tries to continue smiling, ignoring the voice. Toriel calls to him from the couch,
"Hello, Sans!" She seems to be happy, any tension between her and Asgore appears to have disappeared.
"Heya, Tori." Sans replies, trying to sound cheery. Oh. He hadn't told anyone about Riley yet.
"uh, if it's no problem, I invited a friend over for tonight." Everyone looks delighted. Papyrus is smiling, a bold expression on his face,
"I SHALL BECOME GREATEST FRIENDS WITH THIS NEWCOMER!" Sans chuckles.
"I'm sure you will."
Alphys and Undyne arrive shortly thereafter. The food is almost ready by now; Sans checks his phone to see if Riley had texted. Nothing. He shoots her a quick text.
Heya, u on ur way?
I don't know if… I should. I mean, I don't want to intrude or anything on your family and stuff.
Hey, it's alrite. U wouldn't be intruding. I invited u, remember.
Right, right. Sorry. I'll be over in a bit.
If ur not comfortable with coming over, u don't have to.
No it's fine, like I said: I need to get out more.
Alrite. See ya in a bit.
See ya.
Sans sets his phone down, walking over to Alphys and Undyne to greet them. Apparently, Alphys brought anime for them to watch after dinner. Sans agreed with her decision. Riley'd probably like that, he thought to himself as he sat down on the couch, awaiting her arrival. Was it too soon to be inviting her to meet all of his friends and family? She seemed a little hesitant to approach him let alone 7 completely random, and rather intimidating strangers.
He should probably have warned her about Undyne beforehand. About 5 minutes of small talk about the past week and how Frankie now has a cat, which Alphys seemed very excited about, turning to Undyne to ramble about how they should get a cat, the doorbell rings. Sans managed to beat Papyrus to the door, he wanted Riley to be greeted with a familiar face.
Sans opened the door to reveal Riley, wearing a dark blue scarf and a black beanie. Something's up with the scarf thing. Sans decides not to mention it, and gives her a reassuring smile.
"Heya"
"H-Hi" oh yeah. She seems nervous. If the stammering wasn't enough, the shaking sure was. Sans held the door open for her, allowing her inside. A chorus of 'hellos' greeted her as soon as the door closed behind her.
"H-Hello!" Undyne shot up from the couch. Oh no. The fish woman bared her teeth in a sharp smile, extending a hand to Riley.
"Hey punk! The name's Undyne!" Riley shakily took her hand, clearly intimidated by her. Alphys was next, clumsily getting off the couch and hobbling over to the terrified human,
"I-I'm Alphys, U-Undyne's girlfriend." Alphys was a lot calmer, and that seemed to, in turn, calm Riley down a bit.
"I-I-I'm Riley. N-Nice to meet you both!" Sans decided to introduce the rest of the crew, starting with Toriel. He pointed over to the goat woman,
"Uh, Riley, this is Toriel, Tori, this is Riley" Toriel nodded and smiled softly in response,
"It is nice to meet you, dear!" Riley probably smiled back,
"N-Nice to meet you too!"
Next, Sans points over to Asgore. If there was anyone more intimidating than Undyne, it would be the 10-foot-tall goat man sitting casually on the couch.
"That's Asgore. Uh, essentially, the king of all monsters." Riley's eyes widened,
"U-Uh nice to m-meet you, your majesty!" Asgore chuckled,
"Just Asgore is fine, Riley" Riley nods swiftly. Sans looks around, it appears as though Papyrus is not in the room. Or Frisk and Frankie, for that matter.
"Uh, th' kids are around here somewhere… In the meantime, I think Papyrus is in the kitchen. Remember, I told ya about him?" Sans says, turning to Riley.
"Y-yeah your brother, right?"
Sans nods, feeling kinda bad to force her into this position- meeting 7 new people in one night. He turns, walking over to the kitchen, taking a quick glance back to make sure Riley followed. Papyrus was vigorously stirring the pasta, stopping as he heard Sans approach, he turns,
"SANS! WOULD YOU LIKE TO-" Papyrus catches sight of Riley, "SANS! I DID NOT KNOW YOUR FRIEND WAS A HUMAN!" The taller skeleton immediately wraps Riley in an huge hug.
"GREETINGS, HUMAN! I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS!" Riley laughs, hugging the skeleton back,
"I-I'm the Great Riley, nice to meet you, Papyrus!" Papyrus' eyes sparkled,
"WOWIE! I DID NOT KNOW THAT YOU WERE GREAT AS WELL!" Sans chuckles. Oh yes. she'll fit in just fine with our band of misfits. Papyrus releases the hug, turning back to Sans.
"AS I WAS ABOUT TO SAY, BROTHER, WOULD YOU LIKE TO SET OUT PLATES WHILE I PREPARE MY FINE CULINARY DISH?" Sans shrugs,
"Sure, Paps," Sans glances over at Riley, "Uh- If you wanna hang out with them in the-"
"N-No, it's fine, I-I'll help you set up!" Sans didn't object, she seemed a little anxious around them still. The two of them set plates around the large dining room table. Sans watched as Riley pulled up her scarf again. He was going to ask about that one day. With the combined efforts of the two, the table was set in no time.
Frankie and Frisk were already ready to eat when Papyrus brought in the largest bowl of spaghetti Sans had ever seen, and he'd seen giant bowls of spaghetti.
"I MADE EXTRA FOR FRANKIE, IN CASE HE WOULD LIKE TO TAKE SOME HOME!"
Frankie looked over at Sans in excitement, Sans nodded. The little skeleton was bouncing for awhile before calming down to eat a large helping of pasta.
Everyone had gathered around the table at this point, snatching helpings as the giant bowl of spaghetti was passed around. Alphys nearly shrieked when she saw Riley's phone case,
"O-Oh my god. That… from…"
"Mew Mew Kissy Cutie? Y-yeah, it is!"
"O-Oh my god! The second one was so AWFUL!" Riley laughed.
"Pffft oh my god, it totally ruined the plot of the first one!"
Well, looks like Alphys has made a new friend. The entire table groans. This could go on for awhile.
And it did. Clear until dinner was over, Riley and Alphys rambled on about how Mew Mew should have done this, or how that one girl should have left this one guy alone. Everyone let out a sigh of relief as the two concluded their rant.
Frankie jumped up suddenly,
"Sans! Werent we gonna play that game? Uh… monopolop?" Sans chuckles,
"Monopoly?" Frankie nods vigorously, rushing off to find the board game. Frisk follows him as well, nearly tripping over their own feet in excitement. Papyrus narrows his eyes,
"MONOPOLY? ISNT THAT THAT ONE GAME WITH THE HOTELS AND STUFF? AND YOU GET TO-"
"I CALL THE CAR!" Undyne screams, pounding the table with her fist. Riley jumps at the sudden commotion, subconsciously pulling her scarf up frowns slightly.
Frankie returns, holding the game in his hands. Shortly thereafter, the table was cleared off and the game commenced. Toriel and Asgore decided not to play, instead allowing the others to play, since there are only a certain number of pieces. The two looked much happier, going into the other room and talking. that left Sans, Frankie, Frisk, Undyne, Alphys, Papyrus, and Riley. Alphys decided to be the banker, and everyone chose their pieces. Papyrus and Undyne physically fought to get the car,
"I CALLED IT, PUNK!"
"BUT IT IS ONLY FAIR THAT THE GREATEST PERSON GETS THE GREATEST PIECE!"
Needless to say, Sans had to break it up before Papyrus decided to use his special attack. Frankie chose the dog, Frisk chose the battleship. After careful consideration, Alphys chose the thimble. Sans went with the obvious next choice- the boot. and finally, Riley chose the top hat.
The game began rather slowly, but soon, Sans was smiling as he landed on Boardwalk. He stared everyone in the eyes as he purchased the most unforgiving place in the game. Their eyes filled with fear, as one after the other, they fell victim to his trap. Sans put hotels and houses on it, just to add more entertainment as his friends cowered in fear.
"SANS. THAT IS NOT FAIR! YOU CANNOT HAVE THAT MANY HOTELS ON ONE SPOT!" The taller skeleton was getting angry, shrieking as he landed on Boardwalk again.
"C'mon Paps, no need to be so worked up about it. But- you do owe me money so uh- shovel it over."
"THAT DOES IT! I AM DONE PLAYING THIS GAME- SANS IS A CHEATER!" And so that concluded Monopoly. Sans was the clear winner, although the game didn't conclude, per se. It was movie time, and Alphys happily showed Riley what she had picked out.
"Spirited Away? I LOVE THIS MOVIE!" Riley laughs, Sans was glad Riley was having a good time. She was really freaked out earlier, but, everyone seems to have accepted her in their hearts.
Next, they all bundled up on the couch as Alphys stuck the movie in. It was a little squishy, so Frankie and Frisk moved down the the floor. Riley sat in between Sans and Alphys, still carrying on a little about Mew Mew Kissy Cutie 2. Sans soon found himself drifting off to sleep, content.
REVIEWS:
TheSoCoolWriter: (chapter three)I SHALL HUG THE SMOL SPAGHETTI LOVING SKELE-CHILD
TOO PRECIOUS
This is AMAZING though.
Aww! We want to hug him too! :)
Thanks so much!
StarBee24: (chapter six)
yay! happy reunionand Sans made a a little friend. though I wonder what she might be hiding under her scarf...?
Mmm... *singing* Secret! Secret! Hush! Hush! Hush!
I guess we'll find out... Nyeheheh!
Reviews are so appreciated! Thank you so much for giving us a little piece of encouragement! Anything helps! :D
See you all for chapter nine!